World as a stage
SURESH KOHLI
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Peep into the world of Omchery.
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"If you like your work, and if you are single-mindedly involved with creativity without any stress and anxiety, you can hoodwink time and age." That's how Narayana Pillai, the sole NRK (Non-Resident Keralaite) Malayalam playwright, who took on the pseudonym Omchery - the family name in Vaikom, Kottayam district - first as an amateur versifier and then as a definite announcement with the publication of a collection of one-act plays Oppathinoppam (`Tit for Tat'), reluctantly reveals his formula for defying age.
He wears his 81 years with the spirit and enthusiasm of someone half his age. Omchery has been in news once again, this time with the publication of the English translation of Pralayam ("Deluge" by Rupa, translated by A J Thomas), a one-act play which has not only been successfully performed repeatedly in Mumbai, Delhi, and Kerala and is available in German, Hindi and Bengali translations as well. "A play in which the past, present and future all together on the stage at the same time. The past is Noah, the present which is ravaged by the nuclear explosion and violence is Mrs Noah, and the future - as visualised by the young rebellious secretary, Mary, who has a vision of how the world should be: free from the ravages of war and greed."
For the first time in an Indian play - and for that, perhaps, Omchery has condensed his professional insight into all disciplines of mass communication - has sought to employ television, radio, satellite devices to put across the message, and cut across limitations of time and space. For message is of utmost important to Omchery, and even those that have been noticed for the beauty of the absurd have a very pronounced message.
And he has neither been constrained by nostalgia of Kerala, nor the absence of it in all his dramatic outbursts, and yet he has found not only a captive audience but also a string of directors who have tried to interpret his plays, particularly Deluge and The Temple Elephant, the latter is being published by the National Book Trust in all Indian languages. It is, perhaps, the only contemporary Malayalam play which has been staged wherever Keralaites are.An officer of the Indian Adminstrative Service who worked in senior mass media related positions, Omchery studied Indian culture and philosophy in school, Islamic culture for his graduation apart from countless involvements in related disciplines.
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